The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Shell Foundation have partnered on an effort to bring affordable renewable energy to low-income areas of Africa and Asia by 2025.
As part of the agreement, Shell will deploy more than $45 million grant funding by 2025 to build a pipeline of fast-growing, high-impact businesses that deliver distributed renewable energy to households, farmers and businesses in off-grid areas. In addition, DFC hopes to approve up to $100 million of early-stage debt and equity to support the growth of these businesses and leverage capital for further scale.
“This new collaboration leverages DFC’s effective financing tools and Shell Foundation’s experience and portfolio to support companies that connect people living at the last mile to productive electricity, which will dramatically improve their lives,” said Dev Jagadesan, acting CEO of DFC. “We’re excited to work with the Shell Foundation to help companies scale